


The Safe Choice

by miss_aphelion



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Identity Porn, M/M, Modern Bucky Barnes, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-02
Updated: 2018-12-02
Packaged: 2019-09-05 08:46:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16807339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_aphelion/pseuds/miss_aphelion
Summary: “On the one hand, you’ve got Bucky Barnes. Highly regarded veteran, works at the VA, spends his free time working at homeless shelters…and on the other, you have a masked vigilante that keeps showing up on missions and shooting people.”Rhodey held both of his hands out, moving them up and down to imitate scales, like he couldn’t figure out which one held more weight. “Yeah, yeah, I see the problem,” he said. “Hard choice.”(Or, Tony thinks he has to choose between the bad boy and the nice guy - trouble is, it’s the same guy)





	The Safe Choice

**Author's Note:**

> Written for a prompt from arboreal-elm-ash-oak on Tumblr, but I kind of went off script a bit and decided to go modern!Bucky AU with this, because I did not want to have to deal with the whole Starks backstory in this one. Just a silly little one-shot, but it was such fun to write!

“So let me get this straight,” Rhodey said. 

“Ugh, let’s not,” Tony protested, letting his head drop to the kitchen counter. Rhodey, of course, ignored his pain with the indifference of a true best friend. 

“On the one hand, you’ve got Bucky Barnes. Highly regarded veteran, works at the VA, spends his free time working at homeless shelters…and on the other, you have a masked vigilante that keeps showing up on missions and shooting people.” 

Rhodey held both of his hands out, moving them up and down to imitate scales, like he couldn’t figure out which one held more weight. “Yeah, yeah, I see the problem,” he said. “Hard choice.” 

“Okay, first of all, he shoots _bad people_ , okay? That’s an important distinction. Who hasn’t shot a bad guy, every once and awhile? Secondly, I hate you,” he said, raising his head just long enough to glare at him. “I hope you know that.” 

“Don’t get mad at me, this is on you. Do not screw this up, Tones,” Rhodey snapped. “Barnes is a catch. You’re finally in a healthy relationship for once in your life, and you end up making out a with masked vigilante in some skeevy back alley? What the hell’s wrong with you?” 

“Okay, no,” Tony said, pointing at him. “Bucky and I are not in a relationship, or I would not be….and we didn’t make out! His mouth is entirely covered by a mask, how would that even work?” 

Rhodey narrowed his eyes. “Then what the hell were you doing with him in that alley?” 

“I don’t know, it was mostly…you know, eye-fucking, probably. There may have been some grinding involved,” Tony admitted. “I’m not proud of myself!” 

“Do you even remember what you were like before you met Bucky?” Rhodey asked, his expression turning to real concern. “Because I do.” 

Tony groaned, but he knew what Rhodey was getting at. Not long after he had Stark Industries stop developing weapons, he’d started up a number of programs to try and fix the damage that had been done. One was a program to create prosthetic limbs for veterans. 

Bucky Barnes had ended up the poster boy for the program, in more ways than one, and Tony had been there every step of the way. He may have fitted Bucky with a new prosthetic arm, but he was pretty sure Bucky was the one that had saved him. He’d stopped drinking so much, and when Pepper began shuffling Bucky off to charity dinner after charity dinner as their biggest success story, Tony had gone too. He’d been doing tangible good—that didn’t involve shooting things—for maybe the first time in his life, and he’d started feeling like the version of himself he’d thought he’d lost forever. 

The one behind the playboy, the one behind the Iron Man mask. 

He knew he didn’t have a chance with Bucky, though. Bucky was genuine in a way Tony still didn’t remember how to be, and he never even let himself hope for a chance that they could have something together. Then Bucky had admitted that the only reason he’d stuck around for all that PR Pepper had him doing, long after his arm was fully functional, was that he had wanted a reason to stay around Tony. 

It was the perfect opening, and Tony had _choked_. 

The thought of a relationship with Bucky Barnes was terrifying. He was Pepper Potts levels of perfect, and that hadn’t gone so well for him the last time. So, of course, his fucked up brain had decided to sabotage himself. 

And made him fall in love with the mysterious vigilante that kept showing up whenever he went on missions. 

The first time the man they’d been calling the Winter Soldier had shown up, Tony had been a little bit terrified by him, too. Well, like, twenty percent terrified, and eighty percent turned on. The mask he was wearing was a little hardcore for his tastes, but all the buckles on that skin tight suit had tapped into kinks he hadn’t even known he had. 

Then one mission a bad guy got taken out at the knees by the sniper’s shots when Tony’d forgotten to guard his back, and that was the first time the Winter Soldier hadn’t disappeared the moment the smoke cleared. Tony hadn’t known what to expect, but the sarcastic, muffled voice snarking at him for not guarding his back and the sparkling eyes behind that smeared eyeliner had come as a surprise. 

It turned out he was _funny_ , too. Not to mention competent. Hawkeye had watched some of the surveillance videos and demanded to have a marksmanship competition with him—if only he would ever come around when the bad guys weren’t shooting at them. 

But none of them knew where he went when the shooting was over. Tony had Jarvis trying to track him constantly, but the guy was able to disappear off the grid between one moment and the next. He was impossible to pin down. 

Basically, he was the stuff of fantasy, and for once Tony wanted something real. 

“Look,” Tony sighed. “I’m going to end…whatever our weird little thing is, really. I’m going to end it, and then I’m going to ask Bucky out for real.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “I got a message to the Soldier asking him to meet me tonight. So long as he shows, it’ll be over.” 

Rhodey narrowed his eyes. “Seriously?” 

“Yes,” Tony promised. “I want…I want Bucky. The danger, the sexiness…I mean, it’s nice. But Bucky is stable. He’s _good_. Also, you know, _gorgeous_ , too. So…” 

Rhodey rolled his eyes. “So what are you going to do about the Winter Soldier, then?” he asked. “You gonna tell him this town ain’t big enough for the both of you?” 

“I’m going to ask him to join the Avengers,” Tony said. “Whatever my personal feelings, he’s good at what he does. I’d rather he were doing it for us.” 

“And when he says no?” Rhodey asked.

“Then I tell him not to show up again, not where I am,” Tony said firmly. 

Rhodey patted him consolingly on the shoulder. “Welcome to being a grown up,” he said. “About time you got here.”

\- - - - - 

Tony had considered coming in his suit, but in the end he went without it. He wasn’t scared of the Winter Soldier, even if they were meeting on the roof of some abandon building far from any help. Whatever else he was, he’d only ever aimed his weapon at those trying to hurt others. He was an Avenger, already, in everything but name.

“What’s this about?” 

Tony yelped, reaching up to clutch at his heart as he spun around. “Jesus,” he said, turning to look at the Soldier. “Do you make _any_ sound when you move at all?” 

“No,” the Soldier said, though Tony could just make out the humor lurking beneath the deadpan delivery. 

“Okay, look, I can’t see you anymore,” Tony said. 

“Hey, you called me, buddy.” 

“’What? No, I know,” Tony said. “I wanted to see you, so I could say I can’t see you anymore.” 

The Soldier’s eyes crinkled, and though Tony couldn’t see, he suspected he was smirking. “I see,” he said. “Is this about how you mauled me in that alley?” 

“Mauled you—I _mauled you_?” Tony cried, outraged. “Way I remember it, there was mutual mauling! We mauled each other!”

The Winter Soldier just blinked at him, looking unfairly attractive for someone with pretty much only their eyes visible. He had his hair cropped short on the sides, but a little longer at the top, which meant it was constantly falling into his eyes. It didn’t seem like a very practical style for a sniper, but the aesthetic was distracting. 

Tony very carefully did not reach out to push the fallen hair back out of his face, like he would have done when that happened to Bucky. 

“Look, fine, whatever, it doesn’t matter who did what,” Tony said in frustration. “But it needs to stop. There’s someone…someone I’m trying to be good enough for, okay? Someone I love, and…and I can’t keep doing this with you.” 

“Oh,” the Soldier said, and for the first time his confidence seemed to break. He turned his head to look off into the city below them. 

He had such expressive eyes that sometimes Tony thought he could read him even with his face hidden. Those eyes reminded him so much of Bucky’s. Maybe that was the problem, maybe this was some kind of transference. His therapist would be so proud of his realization—well, he was sure Bruce would be proud even if what he would actually say was _I’m not your therapist._

“I mean, obviously, we would never work,” Tony said. “I know hardly anything about you. You probably live in a bat cave.” 

“Joke’s on you,” the Soldier said, turning back towards him. “There are no bats in my cave.” 

Tony laughed, shaking his head. “I would like you to join the Avengers, though,” he said. “That offer’s still open.” 

“I’m best working from the shadows,” the Soldier said cooly. “You wouldn’t want me there. I’m not a hero.” 

“You think what, the Black Widow and Hawkeye don’t have a past?” Tony demanded. “You think _I don’t_?” He shook his head. “You are a hero. That’s the only you I’ve known, and that’s what matters now.” 

“I don’t think I could…” he broke off, shaking his head. “It’s probably better if we have a clean break. You deserve better. I won’t bother you anymore, I promise.” He stepped closer, hesitantly. “Just…before you go, could I have one kiss?” 

Tony should have said no, but he suspected the closure would be good for them both. He stepped closer, too. “You’d have to take off your mask,” he pointed out. “I’m not gonna make out with kevlar.” 

The Soldier nodded, lowering his head as he reached back to undo the buckles. He dropped the mask carelessly, letting it fall between them, before raising his head. 

And then Tony felt his heart stop. 

“Bucky,” he breathed, disbelievingly. 

He couldn’t believe he hadn’t figured that one out, because it was so obvious now. Of course those eyes could only belong to Bucky, how could something so beautiful ever have occurred in nature twice? 

“You don’t have to worry. I won’t—I mean, I’m gonna let you go, because you deserve everything,” Bucky said, carefully reaching out, before pulling his hand back before they could touch. “Whoever you’re in love with, I hope they know what they have.” 

Tony just stared at him in shock, unsure who he could possibly be talking about. Then it hit him, he didn’t know that the someone he loved was _Bucky_. Emotion rushed through him, getting him moving again. He wasn’t even sure if he was angry, or happy, or still confused as hell. 

“You _idiot_ ,” Tony cried, slapping him on the chest. “It’s _you_ , you’re the someone!“ 

“What?” Bucky asked, eyes going wide. “But you just said—“ 

“I’m in love with _Bucky Barnes_ ,” Tony clarified. 

“Oh,” Bucky said, eyes going wide. “You’re breaking up with me _for me_?” His eyes abruptly narrowed again. “Wait, I thought you knew who I was! You mean you just jumped some vigilante you don’t even know in an alley? What if I was some maniac—“ 

“What if?” Tony muttered, disbelieving, but Bucky ignored him. 

“Tony, I told you who I was! You knew!” Bucky insisted. 

Tony gaped at him in disbelief. “I think I would remember that.” 

“Just last week, you asked if I was coming over for movie night and I said I couldn’t because I had an urgent job come up,” Bucky insisted. 

“I thought you meant something with the VA!” Tony said. “I didn’t think you meant you were gonna dress up in bondage gear and go out shooting people!” 

“And when I got into some trouble that time and got a bit bruised up, you asked me what happened, and _I told you_ ,” Bucky insisted. “I said I was trying to infiltrate a drug cartel and someone got the drop on me.” 

“….I thought that was a joke,” Tony admitted lamely. 

“I asked you for advice how you helped the other Avengers get the blood stains out of their suits,” Bucky continued. 

“Okay, I did think that was a weird question,” he allowed. “But I thought it was because you’re so accident prone.”

“I’m not _accident prone_ ,” Bucky said in exasperation. “I’m a _vigilante_.” 

“Huh,” Tony said, before frowning. “Okay, well, you’re definitely joining the Avengers. You’re not going into the field without back up ever again. I’ll integrate Jarvis into your suit. We can—“ 

“Wait, I never said—“ 

“—work up a rotation, I’ll need to know your open cases. Rhodey’s gonna be so pissed. He had _no idea_. I can’t wait to tell him. Oh, also, will you go out with me?” 

Bucky blinked at him, looking a little taken aback. Tony didn’t know why. He’d been dealing with him for long enough to know this was his normal. “You still want to go out with me?” Bucky asked. 

“Sort of even more than before, if I’m being honest,” Tony said, before reaching out and wrapping his fingers in one of the straps on Bucky’s chest. He tightened his hold and then tugged, dragging him closer. “So what do you think?” 

“I think you still owe me a kiss,” Bucky told him, with a sly little grin. 

Never let it be said that Tony Stark didn’t pay his debts.


End file.
